1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for electrochemically (galvanically) applying a surface coating on a substrate, preferably a machine component, and in particular a machine roller.
Machine components with special characteristics are needed in various technical fields. It is known to apply surface coatings of machine components by means of galvanic processes. For instance, machine rollers or cylinders in the graphic industries, such as rollers in textile printing or cylinders for printing presses, require a special "coarse" surface for steel water rollers. In the prior art, the steel water roller is first plated with hardened chromium. Then it is subjected to an accurate machine grinding process. That process is followed by a structural etching step until the desired structural coarseness of the surface is attained. Finally, a hardened chromium layer is applied on the surface structure thus obtained.
The various process steps necessary in the production are quite expensive and they require complicated process technology. The costs are essentially determined by the expansive processing steps, such as mechanical machine grinding and chemical structural etching, each of the treatment processes being relatively expensive.